Sheikah Fascination
by GrimGrave
Summary: Link never spends time with physical activity outside of P.E classes in school. But a few words from Impa makes him realize the benefits and prompts him to join Impa's kendo club. A story of friendship turning into something more as Link spends more time with his Sheikah friend. SkywardSword Link x Impa, rated T for mostly fluff with vague references of adult themes.


Disclaimer: Legend of Zelda and its characters belongs to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo, and NOT GrimGrave. GrimGrave does not make money for writing fiction.

**Sheikah Fascination**

_Chapter 1_

The year is 2019 in the land of Hyrule. Currently, the season was autumn, on this day of Thursday.

The trees had already shredded their vibrant green colour in exchange for the orange and red that now decorated the branches and the ground alike. The winds grew colder with each passing day, prompting people to start dressing a little bit warmer than usual. Leaves whirled with the wind across the cold ground, cracking under the soles of boots and shoes of people that wandered around this morning, off to continue their lives with work or school.

The city of Ordon wasn't too big, but its busy atmosphere of people was just as lively as the bigger cities of Hyrule.

Down the sidewalk next to the street of early morning traffic, Link walked with groggy eyes that threatened to fall back down into slumber. With the loud noises of car horns occasionally speeding by him, it was the only thing that managed to keep the young man awake as he kept walking towards his destination.

The wind managed to cut to his bones, despite his green jacket. It was still in the middle of autumn, but the cold winds had already begun to howl through the days as if winter had already arrived.

Yet, Link couldn't complain. Autumn was probably his favourite season when it wasn't too cold or too hot, making it ideal for his standards.

A few more cars drove past him. It was always so busy around the city in the early hours, which wasn't entirely a bad thing; it gave the city life in a way, and while Link wasn't the most energetic of people most of the time, he rarely participated in the activities or events that happened around the city. For all he had a good physique and was more than willing to be social, Link had his habit of sleeping in when he could.

He shuddered against the breeze. It was always colder in the morning.

Flinging his schoolbag over his shoulder, the young blonde continued his half-sleeping walk towards his school, the Hylia High School, in hopes of getting there before it was too late. Still groggy, he looked down at his watch; it was 07:41. He still had roughly twenty minutes before first period.

Link covered his mouth as he yawned. His tiredness didn't seem to be going away anytime soon.

He glanced down to his left – just down this hill lied the school grounds. Luckily for him, first period was history, a subject Link was relatively good at and gave him an opportunity to rest his eyes a bit which he felt he needed right now. His tiredness was almost catching up with him.

But just when he felt like the eyelids would betray him, a sharp, yet light blow struck the back of his head, instantly knocking off any feebleness that lingered on his person. He groaned in pain as he turned around, rubbing his sore head in the process.

Before him stood a tall girl, a head taller than Link, with deep, red eyes that met his azure ones with a small expression that crossed a smile and a frown in the most quirky sort of way. Her hair, blonde as Link's, was short with the exclusion of a single long lock of braided hair that protruded from her right temple and reached her chest. Her skin was brown in colour, with the exception of her white eyebrows, blue lips and the tattoos; a white teardrop underneath her left eye and the red eye-symbol on her forehead.

Link knew this exotic woman, showing of a light grin while still rubbing his head. "What was that for?"

"S-Sorry Link!" He heard another voice say, which turned out to be another blonde of much shorter height. Stepping out from behind Impa, the girl roughly the same height as Link looked at him worriedly. She wore a zipped up light red jacket with blue jeans. "You looked so sleepy even from a distance so I suggested that we wake you up properly, but-"

"I just made sure to give you a good wakeup call." Impa interrupted. "You're a man. A light whack to the head shouldn't be too much to handle."

Link sighed with a frown over the answer, but managed to laugh it off with a grin just as quickly. "I wouldn't call it light, but thanks. I'm wide awake now."

Impa allowed her lips to show her small smirk. "Very good. Though, if you actually had some form of physical activity going on besides the P.E classes, you wouldn't be rubbing your head for so long."

"Impa!" Zelda called out. "It's still not nice to just hit people! I was going to suggest hurrying over to that vending machine and buying him an energy drink!" With a pout (which was absolutely adorable in Link's opinion) she pulled up her wallet from her jacket pocket. "I even have coins for that…"

Link couldn't help it, and laughed heartily while Impa rolled her eyes, still smiling very slightly. "Perhaps another day." Link said, still chuckling. "Shall we be going then?"

"Let's!" Zelda exclaimed. "Come on Impa!"

The taller blonde sighed, but her smile contradicted her as the three friends now walked together for the rest of the way. Zelda would immediately talk about anything interesting she had heard of going on in town, or talk to Impa about clothes she had seen and wanted "so badly", while Impa never spoke too much. She was more of a listener, but whenever she engaged in a conversation she had a way with words. But more often than not, it was about either martial arts or kendo – both of which she was highly skilled as, earning her the status of caption for the school's kendo-club – which was more of a one-sided conversation due to Link and Zelda both not being athletic outside of standard P.E. periods.

Link on the other side considered himself to be a jack-of-all-trades; he was a good listener most of the times when he didn't daydream, and he enjoyed talking about most things. Even if it was about clothes of the latest trends or martial arts, as long as the person in question made it interesting, he would happily engage.

This time, however, was different. Zelda continued to talk to mostly Impa about shoes or clothes, Link hadn't caught it. He was too busy contemplating, triggered by Impa's word just a moment ago.

Link wasn't lazy to the core; he loved sleeping, but he made sure to do his best in the P.E classes which had earned him a toned physique and ample stamina. But it wasn't anything remarkable – even Zelda wasn't that far behind him in that aspect. Basically, Impa had made a point which was loud and clear.

Maybe a physical activity besides P.E class would do him good. The benefits weighed more after all. No harm could come from having a daily session of learning martial arts, or even kendo for that matter. Sure, there were also sports to consider, but Impa was the captain of the kendo club! And she had a high rank in martial arts for her age; she could easily help Link with a seat within the club and perhaps learn a little more besides kendo in their free time.

Which would make conversations with her a little less one-sided as well, which was also a good thing.

The thought of joining the kendo club started to sound more appealing to Link. The benefits kept grow in numbers; he didn't have any particularly good reason to refuse this opportunity now when he thought about it. Not unless he wanted to be labelled as downright lazy and unenthusiastic.

He glanced back at his two friends. Zelda kept on talking about something, which Impa probably didn't care about too much but still listened intently.

"Uhm…" He began at first. "Excuse me, Impa?" His friends turned their attention towards Link – he hated to abruptly end other people's conversations, but he might as well ask Impa before class. "I was thinking of what you said earlier, about other forms of physical activity."

Impa and Zelda both raised a single brow at Link's remark, but only Impa seemed to be genuine interested. "Go on."

"Well, I was thinking since you're the captain of the kendo club, maybe you could save me a spot there?"

Link could tell how surprised they were. Their eyes had widened considerably, and Zelda even had her lower jaw hanging open if only a little. "Are you sure Link? There are plenty of other clubs that are otherwise open such as soccer or tennis."

"I'm not into sports Impa." Link said plainly. "Besides, it would be a lot more bearable if I knew someone in the club already. I mean, how bad could it be if you're the one in charge? And to be honest, kendo sounds more fun than soccer."

Impa stared at Link, taken aback by his comments, but nevertheless wore an expression that was similar to an eager smile, or a sly grin. Either way, Link could see that she had been happy apparently to hear this. It was somewhat rare to see her smile so clearly, Link figured it must have come off as wonderful news in her ears.

"You better not change your mind Link." She said, still smiling/grinning at him. "I'll have you a member the second I get to the club room! I can't wait to see you there this afternoon Link!"

"That's wonderful Link!" Zelda added with her usual cheery tone. "It's a lot better than just sit around all day like you usually do!"

Link chuckled sheepishly. "Thanks…" He felt a hand pat his shoulder, which turned out to be a smiling Impa.

"I'm really glad you decided to join the kendo club Link. I'll promise you here and now, you'll have fun."

"I'm sure I will." Link replied with a smile of his own, content with his accomplishment of taking the first step towards a more active life in physical aspects. But the hand on his shoulder suddenly lifted, shifting towards his opposite shoulder and pulling him closer towards the tall girl and keeping him there. Link looked up at Impa, only to see her grinning happily down at him.

"I can't wait to have you join, Link! There are so many techniques you need to memorize, and let's not forget about the different types of practices that we'll have to go through like the Kiri-kaeshi, or Kakari-geiko! Oh! And we have to find you equipment that fits you, and then we have to get you a bamboo sword and-" Impa kept on talking in a very enthusiastic manner, going on about the purpose of Kendo and everything remotely relevant to it, keeping Link in place in the process.

It was an odd situation which Link wasn't used to – he and Impa rarely hung out together just the two of them. This would be the first time it would be just she and him, despite that there was other members in the club. Yet that wasn't the strangest of it all.

Impa had always been enthusiastic about martial arts and kendo, of that there was no denying it. But the way she treated Link, how she acted and spoke so unusually eagerly was all so weird to see in a way. Even Zelda eyed them with a puzzled expression.

But it didn't bother Link as much as he had thought at first. Seeing this new side of Impa was hard to describe, but it was positive. Definitely positive.

And in the back of his mind, he mentally noted that up-close, Impa smelled nice.

* * *

A little on the short side, but the other chapters will be longer, trust me. ^^

Hope you all liked it!


End file.
